


Works No Longer In Progress 2015/2016

by Biblionerd



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: F/M, Multi, collection, unfinished pieces
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:41:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8848969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biblionerd/pseuds/Biblionerd
Summary: This is a collection of the pieces I've started but for whatever reason, have lost the drive/inspiration/passion to finish. I have no plans to go back to any of these. Not tagging any ships so as not to get any hopes up. Chapter titles will have ship and a title or short premise.





	1. Lindsay/Mica 'Elevate Your Love'

Pairing of your choice, apartment building AU, trapped in the elevator together.

“You know that’s not going to do anything,” Lindsay said loudly, trying to be heard over the constant pounding on the metal door. 

Mica kept up her assault to both the door and their hearing, banging her fist rhymically. “You don’t know that,” she justified. 

“We just finished talking with the super,” Lindsay pointed out. “He’ll send for the elevator guys, they’ll get us out. Banging like that isn’t going to help!”

Mica spun around to face her neighbour and friend. “There was a lady who was trapped in an elevator for five weeks. She _died_ , Lindsay!”

Lindsay sighed, grateful that at least the noise had stopped, if not her friend’s worry. “That was in China and I don’t think she had talked to the super or anything. The workers didn’t know she was there. We’ll be fine,” she said, and pulled out her phone.

Mica paced back and forth in the small space, making Lindsay worry. “You okay? Just sit down,” Lindsay said.

Mica fluttered her hands, flapping them in front of her face. “I don’t do well in enclosed spaces!” she squeaked, her breathing getting faster.

Lindsay stepped into her path and laid her hands on the smaller girl’s shoulders, halting her. “Okay, okay, so let’s distract you!” Lindsay declared. 

“My DS is dead!” Mica whined. “I was going to plug it in as soon as I got home!”

“I mean…” Lindsay started. “We could always, like, make out or something?”


	2. James/Bruce/Elyse 'Three's A Crowd'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunk Bruce goes home with the equally drunk Willemses

Elyse hit the back of her head on the wall as they crashed into it, laughing against James’ mouth. Her hands were still fisted in his hair when he pulled away and searched his pockets for his keys. She whined at the back of her throat at the loss of his mouth against hers.

James was still giggling, his head resting against the door as he fumbled, drunkenly trying to locate the key to their condo. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll take care of you,” he assured her. He saw Elyse stumble, which was impressive considering she was leaning against a wall, and he looked to his other side to get Bruce’s attention.

With a nod in Elyse’s direction, James said, “Hey, can you take care of Elyse for a sec while I get this frickin’ door open?”

Bruce moved toward Elyse, slipping his arms under hers and bracing them against the wall. He leaned closer to whisper something in her ear, something James couldn’t hear not because Bruce was quiet but because his words were so slurred, but Elyse must have known what he meant because she laughed again, once more hitting the back of her head against the wall.

Elyse pouted, reaching up to rub her head, but Bruce’s hand was already there, cradling her head against the hard surface behind her.

James slipped the key into the lock and got the door open, greeted by a very excited Benson. He moved to the back door, letting the dog out into the postage-stamp sized lawn they have access to as they pay a premium for to live on the ground floor. James made a mental note to take the dog for a nice long run in the morning to make up for the lack of walk that evening.

Once Benson had come back inside, James realised the condo was still empty. Wondering where they other two had got to, he poked his head back out the front door.

Bruce had Elyse pressed up against the wall, not unlike James had just minutes earlier. One of his hands was still cradling her head but now it was moving her toward him rather than just protecting her from the wall. His other arm was wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him as he leaned over her. Elyse was clutching one of his large biceps and running the other hand through his hair, in control of the kiss despite her smaller size.

James coughed lightly. “You know,” he commented, amused when the other two sprang apart. “I’d say ‘ _Dude that’s my wife_ ’ if it wasn’t so freaking hot.”

Bruce swiped the back of his hand over his mouth, smiling guiltily. “Sorry, I uh, you know, with the drinking and all…” he trailed off. 

James slung one arm across Bruce’s shoulders. “It’s not the first time, I doubt it’s the last,” James commiserated. “Elyse starts mackin on everybody when she’s sloshed.” 

Once he had manoeuvred Bruce inside, James returned to the hallway and gathered Elyse into his arms, sweeping her up against his chest.


	3. Michael/Miles/Lindsay 'Everyone's Made Out With Miles, Part 2'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the Dom!Miles fic "Everyone's Made Out With Miles"

“So, I was thinking we should have Miles over again,” Lindsay said as casually as she could over dinner a few weeks later.

Michael grinned. “Uh huh, you wanna get double teamed _again_?” he asked. “Miles did say to give him a call if we wanted to do it again.”

“Okay, it isn’t really double teaming if yours is the only dick I touched,” Lindsay argued.

“Ah, so you want Luna’s dick, I get it,” Michael said, causing Lindsay to roll her eyes.

“It’s, uh...It’s a bit more than that,” Lindsay admitted. Michael didn’t react, so she continued. “You know how he did the thing with you, with the hand on your head?”

“Yeah,” Michael confirmed. “It was hot. But, I mean, if you wanna blow me while I hold your head down, we can do that. Like, now.”

“It’s more than just the head thing,” Lindsay countered. “I am hoping to ask Miles to go full out, I dunno, like, tie me up or something.”

Michael looked a little surprised. “I, uh,” he stumbled. “I didn’t know that was something you were into.”

“Me neither,” Lindsay said. “But seeing you and Miles like that got me thinking.”

“I mean, I could do it,” Michael offered. 

Lindsay paused and lowered the taco she had been about to take a bite of. “Don’t you-” she broke off. “Do you not want to be with Miles again?”

“No no, I do!” Michael objected. “I just...I thought I’d offer, in case you wanted to, you know, try it out with me first. I mean, it’s not my thing, but for you…” He trailed off, leaving the implication of his devotion without having to actually say it. “But I mean, if its a Miles only kind of thing, that’s fine. I get it.”

“It’s not that its _Miles_ specific, but he’s the one who was in charge, you know? And that works for me,” Lindsay explained. “You and me, I mean, I’d have a hard time submitting to you, I guess.” She _saw_ his hackles raise, knowing he had taken her words as a challenge.

“Plus,” she added. “I mean, it’d be weird, since I am technically your boss, right?” She knew the excuse was shaky, they’d always been very careful to keep their personal and professional lives as separate as possible. 

“Yeah, okay,” Michael said slowly. “Well, I mean, sure. Do you want me there, or do you want to do this one on your own?”

“I guess that’s up to you,” Lindsay said. “But I wouldn’t mind you being there.”

“Sure,” Michael nodded. “So I guess, you go ahead and arrange everything with Miles, and we’ll go from there.”

*****

Lindsay shifted restlessly as they stood at Miles’ door. Michael looked at her expectantly. 

“Are you gonna knock or what?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Lindsay said, raising her hand to rap on the door, just as it swung open. 

Miles stood in the entryway. “These doors are pretty thin, I heard you guys out here,” he said in way of explanation, beckoning them into his apartment. “Come on in.”

Michael entered and Lindsay followed, but Miles stopped her with an arm held out at waist height. She turned to him, confused, and he used the motion to slide his hand around her hip to pull her closer. The door swung closed as he released it to run his other hand into her hair and kiss her sweetly.

They broke apart, and a grin spread across Miles’ face. “Hey,” he greeted.

Lindsay took a deep breath and returned his smile. “Hey yourself,” she replied. “Getting a head start, are we?”

Miles moved over to Michael and gave him a quick kiss as well. “Well, this one,” Miles nodded at Michael, “said you were a bit nervous, so I wanted to set the mood.”

Lindsay glared at her husband, who shrugged. “You changed outfits like 12 times,” Michael justified his own worry over the state of her nerves. “I figured he should know ahead of time.”

"It's good that he told me, Lindsay," Miles assured her. "We need to be on the same page. If you aren't up for this tonight, that's fine. We can just fuck, vanilla style. Or do nothing." He pulled her close again, leaning down to kiss her neck. "No no," Lindsay said, her voice catching as Miles sucked hard on the sensitive skin below her ear. "I'm good." "Good," Miles said softly. "Cause I've been looking forward to having you all week." Lindsay shivered, and looked over at Michael. He was watching them with hungry eyes, and licked his lips. “You too?” Lindsay asked him unnecessarily. He nodded mutely.

Miles stepped back and took her hand, leading her gently to his bedroom. Guiding her to the bed, he gestured for her to sit. 

“Now,” he said. “We need to have the boundaries and safewords talk. Safewords are easy, you can pick any word you want, something you wouldn’t say normally. I wouldn’t recommend kumquat, though, that one’s a little too close to certain other words, might get confusing.”

“Learned from experience?” Michael asked wryly from where he was leaning against the dresser in the far corner of the room. 

“You have no idea,” Miles admitted. “Or we can use the stoplight colours. Green for good, yellow for slow down or take a break, red for stop.” Lindsay nodded. 

Turning to Michael, Miles asked, “And you?”

Michael hesitated. “I mean, I’m not really into anything bondage-y, so do I really need one?”

Miles nodded. “Yeah, I mean, even if you don’t want to participate in a physical way, you’re still a witness,” he pointed out. “You have just as much right to nope out of the scene as either of us.”

“Makes sense,” Michael agreed. “I guess I’ll use stoplight colours as well.”

“Great. And I’ll use _grimm_ ,” Miles said.

“Why do you need one?” Lindsay asked. “I mean, you’ll be the one in charge and all.”

Miles shrugged. “I could get overwhelmed too,” he said. “It’s always good to have a back-up plan.”

“So, what is it you are looking for?” Miles continued, turning his attention back to Lindsay. “I know you said you were interested in being dominated. What does that mean to you?”

“Um, I don’t know,” Lindsay admitted. “I just remembered when you did the thing you did to Michael, with your hand on the back of his head, and you did that to me back when...back in college. And I liked it.”

“Okay, so you want me in control,” Miles confirmed. Lindsay looked up at him where he was standing just in front of her, nodding. He unnecessarily tucked hair behind her ear, though it was tied up out of her face already, and drew his finger along her jaw. She unconsciously lifted her chin at his touch, looking up even further. Miles smiled down at her. “Yeah, I can do that. What about bondage, teasing, pain? I’m not into anything that will leave permanent marks. Maybe some bruises, but that’s it.”

“That-” Lindsay’s voice caught. “That all sounds good.”

Miles’ smile change from something between comforting and approving to take on a different quality. The closest she could come to describing it was that it looked like he was planning to consume her whole, and enjoy every moment. She felt a tug of lust at her centre and licked her lips.

He turned that smile toward Michael, who gulped audibly. “So,” Miles asked. “Are you only here to observe, or are you up for non-dominance fun?” 

Michael took a moment to answer, caught in that predatory gaze. “Uh, yeah, I guess,” he said quickly. “If you want me to do anything, I mean. I can watch too. It’s cool.”

Miles chuckled, the sound low in his chest. “Oh, Michael,” he said. “I’ve got plans for you, don’t you worry.”

Lindsay saw Michael shiver a bit from across the room, and felt her own body tremble in echo.

“You just sit back for now, though,” Miles instructed, stepping even closer to Lindsay, his leg gently spreading her knees apart so that he could stand between them. He reached down to cup her face between his hands, that predatory smile still on his face. 

Lindsay lowered her eyes to glance at his fly, which was directly in front of her face, before looking back up at him and biting her lip intentionally.

“Oh, you’re so eager,” Miles said. “I love it. Maybe if you’re a good girl I’ll give you what you want so bad, let you taste my cock like Michael did. For now, why don’t you lay back on the bed there?”

Lindsay moved to where he had indicated, and eyed the cuffs tied to either side of the headboard, the black leather standing out against the pale sheets. Miles saw where her eyes fell and tsked. 

“Not now, those are for later,” he said lowly. He joined her on the bed and leaned down to kiss her, pressing her into the mountain of pillows at her back.

Now that she knew her hands would be free, Lindsay reached up and wrapped her arms around Miles’ shoulders and pulled him down against her. Miles ran his hand down her side, sliding between the bed and her ass and giving it a squeeze before falling to a rest under her thigh.

He pulled up so that Lindsay’s leg was bent at the knee, settling himself on top of her and kissing her frantically, not giving her time to think. All she knew was the feel of his body against her, his mouth on hers, the little pulses of heat that fizzled through her every time the hand that was on her leg ghosted against her inner thigh.

“Mm, too much clothes,” Miles observed. He sat back and pulled Lindsay with him so that she could pull her shirt over her head. She threw it aside and reached to undo her jeans, but paused when he made no move to help her. Miles nodded, so she unbuttoned them and laid back to slip them down over her hips, leaving her panties in place. She sat back up to pull the pants off entirely and toss them aside with her shirt, and pulled Miles back down with her when she returned to her reclining position.

They’d kissed, when they were younger and again with Michael, but not like this. The driving urgency that had propelled them ever faster toward just reaching the peak of orgasm was absent, Miles’ kisses lazy and lingering. Lindsay ran her hands over Miles’ still clad back, taking the time to caress his broad shoulders all the way down to where his waist narrowed. As much as she was enjoying the slow kisses, she couldn’t help the way her hand brushed against herself, aching for something more.

Miles grabbed her hand and pressed it harder between her legs. “Yeah, now I want you to touch yourself for me, okay?” it was phrased as a suggestion, though Lindsay knew it wasn’t. She bit her lip and slipped her hand into her panties when he loosened his grip enough for her to do so.

She was already wet, her fingers sliding through her slick folds to tease at her entrance before returning to press a tight circle around her clit. Lindsay twitched slightly when the pad of her finger passed directly over it, which made Miles smile.

He let her continue to tease herself as he lowered his mouth to her skin, kissing her neck and clavicle and the soft mounds of her breasts above her bra, all the while maintaining a steady stream of deliciously dirty words between kisses.

“Yeah, you like that? Hmm, so hot, so hot for me, aren’t you?” Miles murmured against her skin. 


	4. Meg/Ryan 'Dark Angel AU'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Turnwood Dark Angel AU. Meg and Ryan are both X5s, having moved on with their lives after escape.

Meg threw her arm over her eyes, blocking out some of the harsh light that made her head pound. She was getting tired of waiting on the white couch for Ryan to return, could feel her body tensing and her heartbeat racing even alone. Damn Gavin and his stupid visa renewal process keeping him in England when he should have been HERE helping scratch the itch that was driving her nuts.

Meg heard the door from the other office open and close. "Ryan?" she called out hopefully. Heavy steps approached the main Achievement Hunter office but the voice that answered her was not the man she sought.

"Hello?" he called.

"Hey Matt," Meg greeted as she sat up. "Have you seen Ryan?"

"No, sorry," he answered. "Need him for Free Play stuff?" Matt came around the desks to lean against a chair across from the couch.

That part of Meg that she had been trying to keep hidden unfurled within her. The heat didn't care about relationships or feelings, it just wanted satisfaction. And Matt was as good as any to give it to her.

"Actually," she nearly purred. "Maybe you can help me, I need some advice. Here, come sit." Meg patted the couch next to her, but stood as Matt sat down. "I've got another Me In My Place shoot coming up and I need to know if this is too slutty."

Meg was facing away from the couch but bent at the waist, knowing her skirt was riding up to show her thong underwear. She watched Matt from her upside down vantage point. "I know I've shown a lot of skin for these shoots, but I am not sure if maybe I should wear panties instead of a thong."

Matt was already deep red and moved his mouth as if to comment but nothing came out. Meg smiled a cheshire cat smile, knowing she had him where she wanted. "Wait," she said. Standing suddenly, she pulled her shirt off, revealing a lacy purple bra. "I won't have a shirt either. Am I going too far? What do you think?"

She turned to face Matt on the couch and stepped closer. "Um," Matt mumbled. "I guess if that's the message you want to send?" His eyes widened as Meg climbed on top of him, straddling his legs, knees on either side of his narrow hips.

"And what message am I sending now?" Meg's voice was husky as she leaned closer. Matt was tall enough that they were pretty much eye to eye in this position, and she could see his adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard. Again he seemed to be searching for words, but Meg rolled her body against his, stopping any thought processes he might have been working up.

"Mmm, Bragg-about-it, indeed," she purred into his ear as she palmed the erection growing in his jeans. Rather than let him respond she fit her mouth to his, pressing hard against him. Matt was coming out his surprise-and-arousal induced stupor and reached around to cup Meg's ass. She moaned in encouragement but pulled away, scrambling to pull his shirt off before returning her lips to his.

She ran both hands through his still short hair and fisted her hands in it, forcing his head back. Meg was sucking on Matt's neck while his hands ran all over her back when Ryan walked in. He was rather quiet for such a large man, so he had a moment to take in the scene he encountered.

"Meg?" he asked cautiously. "What are you doing?"

Matt startled at his words and dropped his hands, his eyes going wide in surprise, but Meg was not so easily distracted. She took advantage of Matt's momentary inattention to start undoing his belt, and then the fly of his jeans. "What does it look like I'm doing, Ryan?" she replied. "And if you'd kindly stop distracting Matt and get out of here I can get back to it."

Ryan had come closer and could now smell the pheromones rolling off the woman on the couch. They hit him like a semi-truck. "Shit," he muttered. "Gav's out of town."

"Mmm hmm," Meg confirmed.

"Wait, what going ON?" Matt's voice cracked in surprise on the last word as Meg reached into his boxers and grabbed his wilting erection, sliding her hand over it to try and get his attention back to what she needed him for.

"Something that doesn't concern you," Ryan growled, unable to take his eyes off Meg. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, easily lifting her much smaller frame. 

"X5-476, disengage," Ryan barked. Meg let out a disappointed whine but went limp in his arms. 

Matt looked shell shocked, his hair in disarray and his pants open. "Matt, get out of here," Ryan suggested, setting Meg down on her own feet but keeping an arm around her to keep her close.

"I mean, I can stay and, uh, help Meg if that's what she wants," Matt offered as he stood, but continued refastening his jeans and adjusting himself.

Matt wasn’t sure the grin on Ryan's face was sarcastic or menacing as he replied, "You can either leave now and only have to explain the one hickey, or stay and have to explain why you're bruised, walking funny and got the shit kicked out of you by a skinny Brit." Without another word, Matt hurried out of the office.

Meg sagged against Ryan once they were alone. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

Ryan sighed, but no tension left his body. He pulled out his phone and started dialing. “You gotta be more careful when you go into heat,” he admonished her as the phone began to ring. “Hey Gav...No, I don’t care what bloody time it is...Yeah, well, Meg seems to be in heat and I found her half naked on top of Matt Bragg.” Meg didn’t need her better-than-human hearing to hear the squawk her boyfriend let out at that news. “When are you coming home?” 

Meg knew the answer. Gavin’s visa renewal was still mired in the approval process so there was no telling when he’d be back. Which is why she had come out to the Achievement Hunter office in search of Ryan’s help. He usually avoided her when she was in heat, but she needed him to get her through this.

She listened anyway, and saw Ryan's worried expression intensify. He said nothing though, until her boyfriend asked, "Can you take care of her for me, Ry?"

"Take..." Ryan paused, and chose his next words very carefully. "Am I understanding the full connotations of taking care of her in this state? Are you?"

“Gav and I have talked about this, Ryan,” Meg said, joining the conversation.

“I know,” he sighed. “I just want to make sure.”

Meg grabbed his phone out of his hand, and spoke into it quickly. “Hi Gavino,” she greeted. “I love you and I miss you.”

“I love and miss you too,” the man on the other end replied. Meg was surprised at how alert he sounded, though perhaps the shock of the phone call had spurred him into wakefulness.

“I wish you were here,” she let herself say.

“I do too, Turney,” Gavin said. “I’m sorry I didn’t get this visa bother sorted out earlier.”

“You would have to be gone for a while no matter when you did it,” she assured him. “There was no telling how long it would take.”

“Right then, give me back to Ryan, and then let him take you home. You’re not in any state to be at the office right now,” Gavin said, and Meg complied, handing the phone back to Ryan.

“Yeah, Gav?,” Ryan asked, knowing the other man wouldn’t have had Meg return the phone without good reason. 

“Just…,” Gavin paused. “You’re gonna start worrying and overthinking and I need you to not. Do that, I mean.”

“Ooh...Kay?,” Ryan wasn’t sure where Gavin was going with his rambling thoughts.

“Don’t get all mingy. Meg isn’t cheating on me, you’re not, like, stepping on my toes or whatever,” Gavin spoke softly, even knowing Meg would be able to hear him anyway. “This is fine, we’re all fine, now please go and take care of my girl for me. I’m counting on you.” 

*****

Meg and Ryan made it to his car, but she had become very handsy by the time the did. 


	5. Geoff/Lindsay 'Protege'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prequel to the lovely Geoff/Lindsay ficlet that Gator wrote me ages ago

“I think it’s time you to take over as leader of the Fake AH.”

“What- what do you mean?” Lindsay’s expression matched her confused tone.

“I _mean_ ,” Geoff said with emphasis. “I’m getting too old for this shit.” He indicated his leg, wrapped in a stiff white cast below the knee and propped up by a couple of pillows.

“Yeah, boss, I mean, I can take over for a few weeks while you get back on your feet,” Lindsay agreed. “But you don’t have to, like, step down or anything.”

Geoff sighed like he was weary of the whole world at that moment. “Look, you’re practically running the crew anyway,” he pointed out. “All the boring parts, in any case. It’s about time you get to make the big decisions too.”

“Geoff, this is _your_ crew,” she shot back. “I can’t, like, stage a coup. Even a sanctioned one.”

“You’re not overthrowing me or something melodramatic like that. I am stepping down and passing it on to you.”

The word hung heavy in the air for a moment. “That’s not what I mean,” Lindsay said with her own tired sigh. She had been up for over 24 hours, between the heist and the casualties (no deaths, thank god, but Geoff wasn’t the only one injured). She wandered around the bed and refilled Geoff’s cup from the ubiquitous beige pitcher that seemed to be in every hospital room she’d ever been in, including this one, which was until recently a perfectly nice two bedroom apartment. Caleb and his team of EMTs and nurses had clinics like this one tucked away all over the city.

“Got anything stronger?” Geoff asked when Lindsay handed him the cup of water, and she rolled her eyes but reached into her back pocket and produced a flask.

“Not too much, don’t want to interact with your painkillers,” she warned.

“Like a fuckin’ Boy Scout, always prepared,” Geoff took a swig of the proffered booze and handed it back. “See, it’s shit like this that's earning you a promotion. If you didn’t want more responsibility, you shouldn’t be so damn good.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes at the compliment, screwing the cap back onto the flask. “It’s not that simple. Geoff Ramsey is synonymous with the Fake AH.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Geoff allowed. “But, I mean, that can’t go on forever. Los Santos will just have to learn just how scary you can be.”

“That’s another thing: why me?” Lindsay continued to object. She dropped into the chair next to the bed, slumping down into it. “Why not Jack? Or Gavin, he’s like your adopted son.”

Geoff shook his head. “Jack is great, salt of the earth, love her to death. But being a good XO is not the same as being able to take on leadership. Plus, she wouldn’t want to have to make every decision,” he sat forward as much as he could with his leg still propped up. “And Gav is just...he’s a little _too_ creative, if you know what I mean. And the guys wouldn’t ever listen to him.”

“Like they’ll listen to me!” Lindsay pointed out.

“They will though,” Geoff objected. “They already do, don’t tell me they don’t. You called the shots that got us out of yesterday’s mess more or less intact.“

Lindsay stayed quiet, realizing he had a point.

“But...it won’t be the same. Without you,” she said quietly.

“Christ, I’m not _dying_ ,” Geoff said. “I can stay on as, like, an advisor. Or something.”

Lindsay stood and approached the bed. “You promise you aren’t just going to leave me?” she asked. “Not just going to dump this shit in my lap and run off to bumfuck Oregon or something?”

Geoff took both of her hands, pressing them together between his own. “I promise,” he assured her. “But fuck, Tuggey, even if I did, you could handle it! You’re the most capable person I know!” He flopped back against the bed, still holding her hands loosely in his own. “It’s practically porn, the way you get shit done.”

Lindsay laughed, a chuckle low in her throat. “Is that what gets you, Geoff?” she teased. “Efficiency? Competence?”

“Shit, if I were a younger man, Michael might have to worry about some competition,” he said.

Lindsay looked at him, hitching one hip up onto the raised bed and sliding her thigh up onto it for support. “Geoff, how many times do I have to tell you, you aren’t old,” she reiterated. 

Geoff dropped her hands and let his head fall fall back onto the pillow. “You’re still married, though,” he said carefully, unsure of exactly where Lindsay was going with this line of conversation.

Lindsay scoffed. “Yeah, to a guy who blew you last week,” she pointed out. She waited a beat for Geoff to object again. “I’m just sayin, boss.”

“Don’t fuckin’ tempt me, Linds,” Geoff warned. “Last thing we need is people saying I gave you the crew in order to get in your pants.”

“Oh that’s bullshit, Geoff, and you know it,” Lindsay said hotly. “Who gives a fuck what _people_ say. If they think I fucked you to get the crew, who the fuck cares?”

“You should start, if you’re going to be running this crew,” Geoff said sharply. “Reputation is _everything_.”

*****

“Hey Geoff?” Lindsay asked several weeks later, setting the umpteenth cup of coffee next to him and taking a seat with her own.

“Yeah?” Geoff said, his voice muffled as his head was resting in his folded arms on the table, which was covered in maps and other papers. He straightened, unfolding himself and groaning, and swung his leg, now in a walking cast, up onto one of the other chairs.

“You remember when you told me that reputation was everything?” Lindsay replied. Before Geoff could answer, she added, “It’s fuckin bullshit.”

“Hey,” Geoff objected. “All this planning and work is so our rep stays strong. We go out there with a half-assed plan and we’d look ridiculous.”

“Uh huh,” Lindsay said, exhaustion clear in her voice.


	6. Meg/Ryan "Sign On The Dotted Line"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel guilty about this one, because its so close to being finished. Prequel to Turnwood Dresden AU story "Wizards Staff Cures Many Ailments". This is when they first met, before they "date" and then break up and have *all* the angst between them.

Ryan pulled his motorcycle up to the wrought iron gate, eyeing it critically. He ignored the little speaker box beside it for now, knowing even looking at it could make it malfunction. Hopefully the client had got the memo and left the gate unlocked.

He was doing this job as a favour to the local warden. Usually he didn’t deal with the Vampire Courts, but Geoff’s apprentice Lindsay had begged and promised him a favour in return, so here he was, pushing open the gate and entering a White Court compound in the setting Texas sun.

The Raith line had more money than sense, at least in Ryan’s mind, as he drove slowly up the crushed gravel drive toward the ostentatious mansion. Everything was white marble, the columns at the front door stretching up into the sky like beacons.

If Ryan took some sick pleasure in seeing his dilapidated motorcycle marring the pristine facade, he kept it off his face.

He’d felt the ward at the gate, the magic faded and weak, barely enough to get his attention. The one on the door were fresher, stronger, but Ryan could see why they needed a wizard. The recent unrest in the supernatural community had everyone acting a bit paranoid, so Ryan had been busy, travelling all over the south on jobs like this one, maintaining wards and protections on all manner of buildings and items. Since he specialized in wards and protective spells, business had been good, for once.

The front door swung open as he approached, because vampires love that silly dramatic shit. He paused at the threshold and raised one eyebrow as he looked around the empty foyer. 

“Is somebody gonna invite me in?” he drawled sarcastically.

“Hey, that’s my line,” came an amused female voice from the darkness, somewhere up the grand curving staircase at the far side of the open space. 

“Your wards require an invitation,” Ryan replied dryly.

“You’re the wizard,” the voice said, sounding like it was coming closer. “And an expert in ward magic, I was told. Shouldn’t you be able to just...break through?”

She finally came into view, a shining beacon in the dusky light with her pale skin and white sundress, her hair so dark Ryan thought it was black until she turned and he realized it was a rich brown. She was beautiful, like all in the Raith line, with a cupid’s bow mouth pulled into a smirk and warm brown eyes filled with something that shot straight to his belly. 

Ryan cleared his throat and broke their brief eye contact. Hers was not a soul he wanted to look into. If he kept his eyes, and his hands, to himself, he should be able to get out of there without feeding her demon. 

“Yes, I could get through, and I’d break them entirely,” he admitted. “But its easier to build on weak but intact wards than to start from scratch if I blast them all away.”

The woman raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. “You seem pretty confident,” she commented. “I like a man who knows what he’s doing.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Look, if you want these second-rate wards brought up to standard, invite me in already. Otherwise, I’ve got other clients on my list.” He turned as if to leave. 

“Wait,” she called. “Please come in, Wizard Haywood.”

Ryan nodded at the honorific and stepped into the building, closing the door behind him. That cut off a good portion of the light, so he instinctively stepped away from the vampire and toward a set of double doors to the left where large windows still let the sunset’s glow through.

“Thank you…” he trailed off, waiting for her to supply her own name.

“Meg,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She held out her delicate looking hand, back first as if she expected him to kiss it. He took her small hand in his larger one, though he shook it rather than risking a kiss. 

“Right, so we should hammer out the details of the wards and sign the contracts before it gets too much darker,” Ryan suggested. He ran his hand along the wall as he followed Meg into the sitting room he’d stepped toward, quirking his head as he recognized the style of the spells worked into them.

“Did Ramsey do these wards?” he asked, reaching into his leather bag and removing a couple pieces of paper with identical handwritten terms and a couple of blanks to be filled in, his standard contract.

“Yes, Warden Ramsey was here a few years ago,” Meg purred. “We had...a lovely time. I was disappointed his apprentice said he was too busy to refresh them.”

Ryan huffed. “Ramsey knows what he’s doing with wards, I am just surprised his are so faded…” A realization crossed his face. “Did you- did you, you know…” He made a crude motion with his hands.

“Did I feed from him?” Meg guessed with a knowing smile. “I may have. Wizards are so full of energy, its a treat.”

Ryan sighed. “Well that explains it,” he said. “You drained him before he set the wards, I assume? Nothing left to put into the magic.”

“Oops?” Meg said, not a trace of shame on her face. She looked him up and down. “I’ll keep that in mind then.” Ryan tried not to think about the implications.

Trying to keep things professional, Ryan turned the discussions to her requirements for the protections he would put on her home. He made notes of these on both copies of the contract and calculated his usual rate plus a 25% dealing-with-freaking-vampires fee. Meg didn’t even blink at the number and asked if cash was acceptable.

“Uh, yeah, that’s fine,” he said. 

“Unless you’d prefer bitcoin?” Meg teased. “It’s what most of my clients pay me in, but I figured you wizard types preferred cash.”

“Uh…” Ryan mumbled. “What’s a bitcoin?”

Meg threw her head back and laughed, the sound musical and bringing warmth to the otherwise cold negotiations. “You’re too much,” she said, resting her hand on his bicep.

Ryan resigned himself to never knowing what the heck she was talking about. Probably something to do with computers. “And, uh, don’t think you can just kill me when I’m done to get your money back, there’s a curse built into my wards for whoever kills me,” he tried to joke, but from Meg’s confused though indulgent expression, it had fallen flat.

He handed her the pen and indicated the contracts on the table. “So, uh, just sign on the dotted line,” he said softly.

Meg took the pen from his hand, stepped between him and the table, and leaned down to write her spiky signature on the line indicated, arching her back and ever-so-subtly wiggling her ass in his general direction.

Ryan knew it was all a ploy. He know what she was, how she operated. He _knew_ this was almost reflex for her, something she couldn’t really help, but part of him still hated her for it. It had been too long since his last relationship had ended with a fizzle and his dormant libido was all too interested in the body in front of him. 

The skirt of her dress flared a little, Meg spun so quickly to hand the pen back to him. She smiled that predatory smile when she caught his gaze still pointed down to where her butt had been.

Ryan scowled and took the pen from her hands, pushing past her and scrawling his own signature next to hers on both copies. 

“I think I’ll start with the perimeter wards,” he said gruffly, rolling his own copy of the paperwork and sliding it into place in his bag.

Meg’s laughter echoed in the darkening hallways as he walked back out the front door.

*****

Ryan was mumbling to himself about the muggy Texas night, complaining that when the sun went down, the temperature was supposed to drop as well. He entered the house again, this time without knocking or requiring another invitation.

The marble of the entry way kept it significantly cooler than outdoors, making Ryan sigh a bit. He flapped the open sides of his duster a couple of times, trying to stimulate airflow under the necessary but heavy weight of it.

“You should really take that off in this heat, you know,” Meg purred, her voice startling Ryan once again.

“Would you knock it off?” Ryan grumbled. Her heels clacked on the stone floor only because she intended them to, making shivers crawl up Ryan’s spine before he turned to look at her.

Once again, Ryan couldn’t help the way his eyes swept over her, and once again she smiled to see him watching the way her hips swayed as she approached. “All finished then?” she asked, sounding far more innocent than Ryan would have thought her capable of.

“Need to get the interior wards set,” he growled. He was irritable, more annoyed at himself for being tempted than at her for tempting him. “If you have any electronics you don’t want fried, turn them off. They should be fine if you leave them off until after the wards are set.”

“Well, I’ll go do that, and try not to get in your way,” Meg said sweetly. She started up the stairs, pausing on the plushly carpeted steps to slip off one show, than the other. Without the heels she seemed softer, smaller, more innocent; Ryan could almost wonder what it would be like if she were human, to court her proper, to sit out on her wide porch and sip lemonade and talk about anything and everything under the sun.

That fantasy died when she turned back to look at him once more, and the supernatural flash in her eyes coincided with an unprovoked spike of lust that had him a half mast without a thought. She laughed when he tore his gaze away, muttering all kind of curses under his breath.

Ryan made a circuit of the ground floor without interference, placing stronger wards on all the windows and doorways. He would need Meg to seal them, to speak the passkey that would bind them to her, but that could all be done once the rest of the wards were set.

He ascended the stairs carefully, hesitant to disturb the vampire in the middle of...whatever it was that vampires did with their time. Ryan looked around once he was on the second floor, grateful that the coast was clear, and walked toward the open loft area near the front of the house. He started to peered out the windows and pulled a couple of vials out of his bag to get to work when he heard a soft rustling of fabric behind him.

“Sorry, should I move?” Meg asked as Ryan turned to find her lounging on one of the ivory cabriole sofas facing the line of windows. She sat up slowly, setting aside her book and swinging her legs to the floor, which looked even longer in the short silk slip she had changed into - or rather, likely had on under the dress that she’d apparently taken off. The white lace trim hit mid thigh, but the slits up the side went up high enough to be indecent in public.

Ryan quickly looked back at his work, unsure if she was doing this on purpose or by accident, and not willing to participate in either scenario. _Fuckin vampires,_ he thought, knowing full well she would hear him even if he muttered the words under his breath. “You’re fine,” he did say aloud. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

He held his breath, waiting for Meg to jump on the accidental innuendo. When she didn’t he risked a glance behind him to see her bending to gather her things and walk around the couch.

“I’ll just be in the other room,” she said.

Ryan tried to be relieved that she hadn’t made another blatant attempt at seducing him. She was getting the idea, after all, that he was not a man to be trifled with. He wasn’t surprised that Geoff had...indulged himself, to put it politely; small terrifying women were his thing. One of his things, at least. Ramsey had a lot of things. 

He was contemplating why exactly he was disappointed that she’d let off the pressure as he continued on his slow progress around the outside walls of the second floor rooms. Ryan approached the last room at the end of the hallway and knocked softly on the door, which was hanging slightly ajar. 

“Anybody in here?” he asked, stepping into the room when he received no answer. He walked to the outside wall on the other side of the large four poster bed that dominated the room to pick up the ward, but once again was startled by rustling behind him. 

“Are you following me, Wizard Haywood?” Meg asked, and Ryan looked up to see her standing in the doorway of a bathroom or closet, he wasn’t sure. She’d changed once again, or removed more clothing, but at least she seemed to have some sense to put more on. A short satin robe, white of course, and monogrammed on the left pocket, was hanging open over her lacy and enticing bra and panty set.

He had to clear his throat before he could get out, “No no, not on purpose, at least.” 

Meg smiled again, that smile with something wicked behind it. “Will you be much longer?” she was polite, but Ryan couldn’t help but feel pressured to finish.

“Not too much longer, just need to finish this room, then I’ll need you to seal it,” he explained. 

“Fine,” she said dismissively. “Call me when you’re ready.”

Ryan stared after her as she walked back out of the room, completely unsure of what to think. First she had been trying to seduce him, and now she was acting like she couldn’t wait to be rid of him. He supposed it was nice that she was respecting his wishes, but he had expected at least one more cursory attempt at getting him in bed.

His thoughts didn’t slow his progress, and after a few minutes work the wards were ready to be sealed and bound to the home’s owner. He stood in the southwest corner of the room, laying a small bottle with a few drops of oil swirling at the bottom next to a crimson length of silk rope on the dresser nearby.

“Ms. Raith?” Ryan called, reverting to more formal titles after the cold shoulder she’d given him. “I’ll need you to finish up, and then I can get out of your hair.”

Meg walked back into the room, the robe belted around her waist now, looking haughty and bored. She approached where Ryan stood, saying nothing, crossing her arms over her chest, drawing Ryan’s gaze. Her robe gaped a bit, and Ryan tried not to stare.

Ryan stretched out the cord and handed the little bottle of oil out for Meg to take. She did so, following his instructions to pour a couple drops at the midpoint of the rope while speaking the words of binding that Ryan fed to her.

“Okay, now just tie it in a knot,” Ryan instructed.

Meg looked at him and raised one eyebrow. “Just tie a knot? That’s it?” she asked, incredulous.

“Yep,” Ryan said, feigning calm in the face of her doubt. “I mean, the tighter the better, without breaking it.” When she still looked like she didn’t quite believe him, he added, “Look, metaphors are powerful magic. You’re tying together the spell, so I went literal with the ritual.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “I guess wizards aren’t known for their subtlety,” she commented, but tied a knot as requested.

Ryan felt a pulse through his magic as the knot tightened, and from Meg’s reaction she felt it as well. There was a series of loud pops and flashes of light from the head of the bed and the bookcase on the other side of the room. Ryan saw sparks flying and his instincts kicked in. He grabbed Meg and pressed her to the wall, bracing his arms on either side of her head and curving his back in order to shield her from whatever was exploding in the rest of the room.

The sparks stopped after a moment, and Ryan raised his head to take a look, to try and determine what happened. Meg reached up and with one hand to his cheek, guided his head back to face her.

“My hero,” she cooed and stood on tip-toe to capture his mouth in a kiss. He tried to pull back, still concerned with whatever had blown up behind them; a chill passed through him and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss instead.

Every time Ryan would remember that there was still danger behind him, Meg’s moans and wandering hands would bring him back to her. His world reduced to only her body and where it pressed against his, where his hands cupped her head and her ass with matching enthusiasm. His duster slipping off his shoulders and hitting the floor was an afterthought, something that was happening in the background while he poured everything into the fusion of their mouths, pouring everything he had and feeling it slip away into her kiss.

Ryan startled when the backs of his knees hit the bed; he hadn’t even realized they were moving. Meg grabbed him by the shirt and spun, lowering herself to the bed and pulling him with her in the same movement. He pulled her further up on the bed so their mouths aligned and his knee slipped between her thighs, giving him leverage to hold himself up above her.

Meg’s mouth latched onto his pulse point, and Ryan turned his head, finally seeing the hold burned in the quilted fabric of the large headboard and a half melted electronic device sitting in a cubby hole. 

“A camera?” Ryan guessed, trying to identify whatever it was that had blown up.

Meg turned with him, disengaging from the bruise she was sucking onto his neck. “Hmm?” she made a noise of inquiry. “Oh, yeah, I guess the magic didn’t agree with my camera set-up.” She moved to kiss him once again, but Ryan’s curiosity was piqued.

“I warned you to turn them off?” he mumbled, starting to worry. He had thought all of the expensive looking computer equipment in the other room had been turned off, but if it hadn’t he had just ruined a great deal of expensive electronics and…

“I had _hoped_ these would make it out alive, they were supposed to be hardy as a damn Nokia,” Meg said. “There go all those hidden camera sex tape views.”

Ryan shook his head and looked in the other direction, at where the other camera had exploded. He sat up onto his knees, looking down at her. “Why wouldn’t you wait to turn them on when you were going to be with someone?”

Meg smiled up at him, reaching up to trail one finger down the line of buttons on his shirt. “I did,” she confessed.

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and then Ryan scrambled backwards off the bed. “You were going to secretly film me? Us?” he accused. Then his eyes went wide with realization. “You used- you used your powers on me! And you wanted to film me- did you do it for the movie? To make porn?”

Meg shook her head, levering herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. She reached out to take him by the shirt again, to pull him closer, but Ryan stepped back.

“You know as well as I do, I can’t make something from nothing,” Meg pointed out. “I can only...encourage you to act on things you already want.” She stood, stepping toward him while he remained in place, and craned her neck up to look at him. “I want to fuck you as much as you want to fuck me, Wizard.” She let her hand brush against where his erection was straining against his jeans. “The movie was just a bonus.”

Ryan felt heat rise inside him, not only from the shock of lust that ran through him at her touch. He had practiced his entire life to maintain _control_ , and something within him was boiling over with anger at the idea of someone trying to take away his control, forcing him into doing something he told himself he wouldn’t.

He was a large man; he didn’t like resorting to physical violence but the muscles bunching in his arms and shoulders weren’t just for show. Ryan’s face went hard, nostrils flared, a mask that had made grown men cower before him; Meg only took a step back, settling into a more balanced pose. He noticed her fists clenching and felt a chill sweep through the room.

Then he remembered: she wasn’t some human, or a wizard trying to trick him. She was White Court. The cold emanating from her spoke to the power she was gathering. If he got violent, she would beat him to a pulp, despite her diminutive size.

Ryan wasn’t sure if it was her influence that made him think that was incredibly sexy.

He couldn’t blame Meg for only acting within her nature. She could no more stop feeding than he could stop breathing. Ryan kicked himself for not recognizing the signs of a predator: identifying her prey, acting disinterested to get him to lower his guard, and then attacking when least expected. 

Even though the bite of his anger was fading, the tension in Ryan’s body remained. He may not be able to be truly angry at Meg, but that fire was still there, burning inside him. He growled in frustration and turned away, stalking toward the door.

Meg rushed ahead and stood in front of him, blocking the exit, her hand on his chest again. “Come on, Haywood,” she cooed. “The cameras are destroyed, so there’s nothing left to worry about.” Stepping closer, she pressed herself against him and reached up to curl one hand around his neck. “I’m still up for it, and it seems you are too.”

Ryan knew she could feel his still hard cock against her belly, so he couldn’t deny that he still wanted her. He looked down at her, at the robe still hanging off her shoulders, at the expanse of her exposed skin, and felt something break with him.

Pushing the robe’s sleeves down her arms until it finally hit the floor, Ryan grabbed Meg by the hips and guided her backwards, turning them both so that they hit the wall instead of leaving the room. Their positions were a parody of earlier, as Ryan was no longer interested in protecting Meg from some unknown danger, but in consuming her himself. 

He lifted her up, pinning her to the wall with his hips while he kissed her hungrily. One of his hands slid up her side, causing her to shiver a bit, until his thumb started caressing the side of her breast. Meg arched against him, pressing forward to encourage more: more touching, more kisses, more grinding hard against her.

Meg wrenched her mouth free of his and let out a loud gasp when he pinched her nipple between two of his fingers while simultaneously pressing one knee up between her thighs, brushing against her. 

“Haywood, get on with it,” she ordered breathlessly.

Ryan snarled wordlessly, grabbing her ass in his two large hands and holding her up against him as he spun and covered the distance back to the bed in a couple of steps.


	7. Meg/Ryan/Tyler/Mariel "Studio Time"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a Step Up-inspired Team Free Play fic. Meg and Ryan are trained dancers who end up sharing their practice studio with street dancers Mariel and Tyler, who are auditioning to join their school.

Ryan caught the water bottle that Meg threw at his face as they approached each other from opposite ends of the hall, though it was a near thing.

“Come on, Haywood,” she teased. “Reflexes gotta be on point if you’re gonna throw me around in this routine.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “All right Turney, whatever, you know I’m not the one who loses their footing and falls all over their partner,” he shot back. He smiled wide at her as they simultaneously leaned on the doors into the studio, pushing them open. There was another pair of dancers in the corner throwing on hoodies and unplugging a phone from the sound system. Meg gave them a little wave as they exited the room.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, a question he didn’t even need to vocalize before Meg answered him. “Barb and Arryn, they were in our lyrical class year before last,” she explained once the girls were out of hearing. “How do you not remember? You partnered Arryn for a week when Blaine was out with his ankle.”

“Things like that don’t stick with me!,” Ryan defended. 

“What, names? Or faces?”

“Both?”

Meg rolled her eyes, dropping her bag and bending to fetch her phone out of it, which she took over to the cabinet filled with a variety of electronic equipment and plugged in. A high tempo dance track filled the room and she moved to the barre along the back and started warming up.

Ryan stripped out of his sweats and moved to the middle of the room and bounced around a bit, shaking out his limbs, moving into a pirouette when the doors banged open and he halted his turns to look at the people entering, a young man in baggy sweats and woman in jeans and street shoes.

“Hey, you guys about finished messing around? We’ve got the studio,” the young man said, his deep voice carrying even over the music.

Meg looked up from her stretch, one leg still up on the barre. “No, I’ve got Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3 to 5 for the next eight weeks,” she objected. She grabbed the remote to turn off the music and then stepped next to Ryan, crossing her arms over her chest.

“That’s funny,” the girl said, pulling out her phone and tapping it, finally turning the screen toward the other couple. Meg leaned closer to see that she did have an email confirmation from the studio secretary confirming that one Mariel Salcedo had Studio C reserved.

Meg ran back to search her own phone and found a nearly identical email. “I guess they must have accidently double booked the room. Just head to the front desk and they’ll find you another room,” she told them, setting her phone down and moving to turn her music back on.

“Now hold on a minute,” the girl Meg assumed was Mariel said firmly. “How come we have to go find another room? For all you know we booked it first.”

Meg raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but we’re students at this school and as far as I can tell you guys are barely dancers, let alone students, so we have priority,” she scoffed, feeling her inner bitch rise to the surface. She was nearly snapping her fingers in the other girl’s face. “We’ve got a competition to prepare for, and a freestyle piece to choreograph, so don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Ryan’s eyes had gone wide, hearing his usually even tempered partner go off on these strangers. He slowly stepped backwards while she spoke, though when she spun around to exit the conversation she caught his arm and turned him around as well, leading him to the barre. 

Meg clicked on the remote to turn the music back on with a pointed look at Mariel and her partner before silently resuming her stretches as Ryan began his while trying to look apologetic without actually looking at the others. 

“It’s a big room,” that deep voice rang out over the music again, a slight Texan twang to it. Mariel’s partner stripped off his oversized jacket, leaving him in a tank top which emphasized his incredibly well muscled shoulders and arms. “We can take this side for today, and we’ll work it all out later.”

Mariel set down a little speaker and a bass heavy mix started playing. “We’ve been invited to audition for the school,” she said, loud enough to be heard over the competing music.

Meg rolled her eyes at Ryan, but muttered, “Let’s just get to work, we’ll deal with these clowns at the main office after rehearsal.”

Sticking to one side of the studio may have been easier for the other pair, but Meg and Ryan were not used to restricting themselves. They also had issues concentrating on the music Ryan had suggested with the other song playing, so they turned it off after the first couple playthroughs and then began to work. Other than accidently counting to the beat of the other song, which was slightly faster than theirs, they were making it work.

Until Meg spun away, out of Ryan’s arms and bumped into Mariel, who was shuffling backwards, bent at the waist with her arms outstretched. When they collided, Mariel’s balance was thrown off and she tumbled to the ground, barely catching herself before her face met the floor. 

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Mariel spat out as she picked herself up from the floor. Her partner rushed to her side and offered her a hand up.

“Ya okay there, Mar?” he asked.

Mariel made a big show of dusting herself off. “I’m fine Ty,” she said through gritted teeth. “Some people just need to learn to watch where they’re going.”

“I wasn’t the one walking backwards into our side of the studio!” Meg shot back. She glanced behind her at Ryan, her eyes darting from him to the floor next to her to encourage him to back her up.

“Your side, my ass,” Mariel retorted. 

“Baby, let it go,” Ty urged her, grabbing her arm to hold her back as she stepped toward the other dancers.

“Alright, enough of this,” Meg threw up her hands. “I’m not sharing our studio time with these rank amateurs.”

She stormed off toward the door, just over five feet of purple haired condensed annoyance stomping across the wooden floor.

“Amateurs, ha,” Mariel growled mirthlessly. “At least I’m not some snobby prima ballerina bitch who wouldn’t know a fresh move if it hit her in the face.” She shifted her weight between her feet a couple times before spinning and walking to the door as well.

Ryan met Ty’s eyes and shrugged, turning around and grabbing his and Meg’s bags and following the other dancers out of the studio.

*****

The schedule was full enough by that point that neither pair got the full two hours they had hoped for, but had to divide three hours between them. Meg and Ryan has classes elsewhere in the campus so they took the first hour and a half, leaving Mariel and Ty with the second.

On Wednesday Ryan was the one to spot the others waiting patiently through the window, and checked the watch that Meg called him an old man for wearing. “Time’s up!” he called, trying to inject some cheerfulness into the situation that he knew was still annoying his partner. She grumbled but went to grab her phone and pack up her duffel.

“Hiya,” Ty said as he and Mariel entered the room. “It’s Ryan, was it?” His Texan accent was strong and he stuck out a hand in Ryan’s direction. After glancing at the ladies and their deliberate avoidance of each other and the boys, Ryan took it.

“Yeah, Ryan Haywood,” he confirmed. “And you’re Ty?”

“Tyler,” the other man clarified. “Tyler Coe.”

“Cool,” Ryan said lamely. “So, uh, you guys are preparing something for the showcase?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said.

Meg had gathered her things and was exiting the studio, so Ryan kind of nodded in Tyler’s direction, picking up his own bag. “Uh, see you Friday, I guess?” he said as he followed Meg out the door.

*****

“Hey, I looked you guys up,” Tyler greeted the next time they passed at the studio door.

“Yeah?’ Ryan asked with a grin. “Are we infamous or something?”

Tyler chuckled, the sound low and smooth. “Once I knew who to look for in the school’s contemporary program, I’d say you were. You guys steal the show in every piece I saw on YouTube.”

“Thanks, man,” Ryan replied sincerely. “That’s kinda the point of us entering the showcase and all. Trying to raise our profile so some of the bigger companies will notice.”

The words faded while they still stood facing each other, not really wanting the conversation to end, but unable to think of anything else to say. 

“Well, uh.” Tyler mumbled. “Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Ryan waited for a moment, searching for something else, but then turned and walked away.

*****

This became a habit, the boys stopping to talk, exchange greetings as the room passed hands. Tyler started coming in earlier, before Meg and Ryan were finished, to sit and watch them rehearse. He always had something to say, some commentary or anecdote to relate about their performance, or the school, or how his own routine was coming.

Mariel rolled her eyes as their deep laughter filled the studio once Meg had turned off their music. “Come on, get to work Coe! Stop flirting with the cute boy in front of your girlfriend!”

Tyler turned his head toward her, his grin wide. “That’s why it’s called an open relationship, sweetie pie!,” he sang out across the room.

“Yes, ours is, but theirs may not be,” Mariel called back. Tyler turned back to Ryan to see the other man’s face flush a deep red.

“It’s not, uh, we’re not...not like that,” Ryan mumbled, watching Meg out of the corner of his eye to catch any reaction she might have. It wasn’t the first time someone had assumed they were dating, and Meg usually had a rather strong reaction to the idea.

“Wait, you’re tellin’ me you _aren’t_ hittin’ that?!” Tyler exclaimed, complete shock and disbelief in his voice as he gestured toward Meg. “But she’s like, the hottest girl in this school!” When Mariel cleared her throat, he added, a bit louder, “At least until my sugar bear and I get in.”

“No, I know, I just- It’s- it’s complicated,” Ryan said.

Meg was passing by them, but stopped to add, “We’ve been dance partners for years, and it would be _extremely_ unprofessional.” She looked very pointedly between Tyler and Mariel, then continued on her way out the door.

Ryan watched her leave, and when he turned back to Tyler the other man had a grin that could only be described as _shit eating_. “So, that means you’re single then?”

*****

*****

“Something still feels off,” Meg declared, sweat dripping down her face. “We’re nailing the steps, it _looks_ beautiful, but something just isn’t right.”

“No, you’re right,” Mariel shoved off the mirrored wall where she had been leaning, watching them rehearse. “What if…”

Mariel moved to the centre, gently pushing Meg toward the wall and standing opposite Ryan. “What if at the bridge, where the key changes, you shift the power to Ryan?”

Meg looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just, the whole time, _you_ are the one leading the dance.He’s following, reacting to your moves.” Mariel pulled Ryan down by the shoulder and whispered something in his hear. “What about this? Take it from the 4 count before the second chorus.”

Mariel and Ryan went through the steps, not as smoothly as he would with Meg, but passibly enough until the last line of the chorus faded away with Ryan on his back and Mariel lowering herself on top of him, one leg arched behind her in the air. 

Meg had been springing up from that position with a push from Ryan, but now he hooked his leg around one of Mariel’s and flipped them over just as the key changed in the song. One of his knees was between Mariel’s legs and he had her pinned to the ground. Meg had never seen that look in his eyes, seen him look almost...predatory. She felt her stomach drop, a tight hot ball of attraction that she’d rather ignore settled there.

Mariel must have had a similar reaction, because she reached her free arm up and pulled Ryan’s face down, lifting her head to meet his lips with her own. She arched her body against his, bending off the floor where he was still holding himself away from her. Meg could see his arms shake from the effort before he broke the kiss and sprung up to stand next to his still prone partner, offering her his arm.

“See, then you can continue,” Mariel was saying. “And almost reverse the moves? Like, he takes the ones you were doing, except the lifts, and then when you do the finale with you wrapped around him, it’s like...like you both had a stake in it.”

After a beat, she added, “You don’t have to do the, uh, kissing part.”

“Yeah, thanks for the warning there,” Ryan drawled. 

“I’m sorry!” Mariel apologized without really meaning it. “I’m just so used to you being so docile, you went all dominant on me and it was _really_ hot!”

“I didn’t see you exactly jumping away,” Meg commented, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked defensive, withdrawn, and just a little pissed.

“What’s wrong, Meg, you jealous?” Mariel teased. “Don’t be! You know I have plenty of kisses to share.”


	8. Lindsay/Ryan/Michael "College AU"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one hurts the most to admit I've abandoned, and I reserve the right to go back and pick it up again at some point if I change my mind, but it's been almost a year and a half since I started it. I hopped around a lot, writing what I wanted to write, so its not all one big narrative yet.
> 
> Lindsay, Ryan and Michael are all in the same group of friends in college. Lindsay has a huge crush on Ryan, but his conservative upbringing and worries over his own sexuality lead to his unintentionally rejecting her. Lindsay finds comfort in Michael, who had been holding a torch for her. Ryan realises he's jealous of them both and gradually opens up to the possibility of having them both.

Lindsay knew it had only been a week since last Tuesday when she had seen her gang of friends, but she was really looking forward to catching up with everyone now that they had returned to school after Thanksgiving break. 

And if she was especially looking forward to seeing one tall blond junior in particular, that was something to keep to herself because he had a _girlfriend_ and wasn’t interested in her anyway no matter how much he flirted with her.

No one had been sitting at their usual table when she had entered the line to get some food, but when she returned with her lunch she saw Jack with his brown bag and Ray with a cafeteria tray claiming their spot. She set down next to Ray and joined him in poking fun at Jack for his dorky bagged lunch, until they saw the massive sandwich he had created out of turkey and stuffing leftovers.

The rest of their group of friends filtered in as classes got out or they climbed out of bed, depending on their schedules and habits (Lindsay _didn’t_ smile a little wider when Ryan sat down and greeted her in particular, no matter what anyone thought they saw). Each new arrival was entreated to share their holiday stories, and they caught up on everyone’s week away.

“So I pretty much shacked up with Griffon all weekend. How about you, Ry?” Geoff turned to Ryan. “Did you have fun **not** fucking your girlfriend? Or did you finally rid yourself of that particular ball and chain?”

“Uh, actually…” Ryan started, and Geoff spit out the water he had just taken a sip of.

“Did you _really_?!” Geoff nearly shouted, making a few heads to around them to turn in curiosity. 

“Well, no, but she dumped me,” Ryan admitted. Lindsay felt her heart constrict when Ryan looked up and met her eyes.

“Wait, for real?” Ray asked. Ryan nodded.

“I’m sorry, dude,” Geoff said, slapping Ryan across the back. 

“Yeah, apparently long distance with a junior who is still taking freshman level classes because he keeps changing his major doesn’t measure up with a fellow pre-med classmate,” Ryan said sarcastically. 

Jack threw his arm around Ryan’s shoulders. “Aw, I’m sorry to hear it, man. She doesn’t know what she’s missin’,” he comforted.

“Yeah, well, that’s cause he never gave it to her!,” Gavin cracked, giggling at his own joke. Michael slapped him upside the head.

“All right Haywood, no moping around,” Geoff ordered once he’d calmed down. 

“No, I’m good,” Ryan insisted. “I mean, you know things weren’t great, with the distance and all, it wasn’t totally unexpected-”

“Best way to get over a woman is to get under another,” Geoff continued, as if Ryan had never spoken. “Find someone to tickle your willy-”

“Really, Geoff, I’m fine-”

“Ride ya hard and putcha away wet-”

“No, please, I’m oh-”

“Bob on your knob til the cream comes out!”

“GEOFF!” Ryan finally shouted. The rest of the table burst out laughing. “Thank you for your, uh, very kind suggestions. But I think I’ll be okay.”

“Well, just let me know,” said Geoff. “Benefit of being a TA, I know a large number of easy freshman.” Ryan just shook his head, and the conversation moved on (mostly to the lads asking Geoff for introductions to these “easy freshman”).

As their lunch wound down, people drifted away in ones and two, headed off to classes or jobs or some other activity. Ryan bid them all a general goodbye and walked his tray over to the trash. Lindsay caught up with him there. 

“Hey, Ry,” she greeted. “I’m sorry about your girlfriend.”

“Thanks, but I really am doing okay,” Ryan said. “What can I do for you?”

“Who says I want anything?” Lindsay asked.

“Well, usually you stay at lunch later than I do, cause your class is just upstairs, and mine is across campus,” Ryan replied. Lindsay tried not to blush at the fact that he noticed when she left and where her classes were.

“Well, I needed to ask you a favour,” she said.

“Ah ha!,” Ryan said triumphantly. “So you do need something.”

“Well, yes, but I will offer something in exchange,” Lindsay said. “I need some help with my ‘Math for Arts Students’ class, and I was thinking that since you’ve taken it and you’re smart and stuff, you could. I’d bake you cookies or something!”

Ryan chuckled. “Sure, I can do that. You don’t even have to bake me cookies, if you don’t want. But, I mean, I won’t say no, if you were planning on baking them anyway.”

“Great!” Lindsay’s voice was a bit too high, a bit too bright to hide her excitement. “So, Friday? At study group in the library?” Ryan nodded, and Lindsay scurried back to the table while Ryan headed off to class.

*****

Lindsay was on her way back to her dorm room after class on Wednesday when she heard familiar voices shouting from the basketball court nestled between the residences. She wandered over to see a bunch of her guy friends playing 3 v 3, and Barb and Mica lounging on the lawn next to the court. “Ow ow!” she wolf whistled as she approached, dropping to sit next to the girls.

The guys looked up from their individual huddles when she called. Michael grinned and walked closer, not-so-casually flexing his unclothed chest and arms. “Oh yeah? You like what you see?” he asked. Gavin and Ray started flexing behind Michael, making fools of themselves.

“Naw,” Lindsay drawled. “You three topless is old news, I see that all the time, you live down the hall.” Michael stuck his tongue out at her. “But I don’t usually get to admire these gents all sweaty and sleeveless.” She nodded toward the older guys, and made sure to say it loud enough for them to hear her. She spotted Ryan grin without looking in her direction, maintaining attention on his teammates, but he had to have heard her and appreciated the comment.

The lads huddled again, but from the wicked smiles on their faces, Lindsay suspected it had little to do with the basketball game. Those suspicions were confirmed when mid-scrimmage a few minutes later Gavin yelled “Now!” and the younger boys yanked on the pants of the older players they were guarding. 

Jack had somehow anticipated the shenanigans and was holding on to the waist of his shorts while Ray futilely pulled on them. Geoff let out a yelp when Gavin managed to get his shorts around his ankles and scrambled to cover his boxers and crouched to get his shorts back in place as quickly as possible. Ryan accepted his fate and raised his hands in victory, laughing as Michael exposed his bright green boxer briefs. 

The girls hooted and hollered, Barb yelling, “Ooh baby, come to Mamma!” and Lindsay adding, “That’s one for the spank bank!”

They were all still giggling when Lindsay stood and picked up her bag. "It's been lovely, but I have a paper to work on," she bid the girls goodbye. As she turned the corner, she heard someone behind her calling her name. 

"Hey wait up!," Ryan called, jogging to catch up. His hand was still holding the waist of his shorts up so he must have rushed after her.

"What's up, Ry?" Lindsay asked casually.

A wicked grin spread across his face. " _Well,_ I just think it's only fair if you reciprocate," he said.

"What, for help with math? I already promised you cookies or something," Lindsay replied.

"Naw," he said. "I mean, you get spank bank material, shouldn't I get some too?"

Lindsay stared at him, mouth agape. "I'm not dropping trou, here, for your amusement, bub!"

"No no no no," Ryan quickly back peddled. "Nothing like that!" Lindsay's shock turned into suspicion. She eyeballed him, waiting for an explanation. Ryan huffed out a sigh. "Just..." he trailed off, but he bent and pressed his lips against hers, lips soft but insistent. Lindsay couldn't help the way her mouth parted at the contact.

As suddenly as he was there, Ryan pulled away. Lindsay saw her own grin mirrored on his face. “Catch you later, then!” he called as he ran back to the game.

*****

Later that evening, Lindsay knocked sharply on the door and pushed it open when someone inside bid her to enter. “Hi Jack!,” she greeted Ryan’s roommate, who was sitting on his bed. “Can I borrow Ryan for a bit?”

Jack looked her over. “I don’t know…” he hemmed facetiously. 

“Please?” she whined, smiling wide. “I promise I’ll bring him back before he turns into a pumpkin, since it’s a school night and all.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Ryan asked, good naturedly. He took his headphones off and stood to follow Lindsay out of his room. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Just wanted to talk,” Lindsay replied. “Anywhere around here we can hang out for a bit? I don’t know this building really well.” Ryan nodded and led her to the basement where the residence’s lounge was luckily not in use. They didn’t bother turning on the lights, able to see well enough with the light streaming through the glass doors from the hallway.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Lindsay grabbed Ryan’s shirt and turned him to her, sliding a hand up to cup the back of his neck and pulling him down to press her lips against his. She could feel his smile against her own. “You caught me by surprise earlier,” she murmured. “Now it’s my turn.” She pushed him backwards toward the couch until his knees hit it and he half sat/half fell onto it. Lindsay followed him down, straddling his lap.

“So, you wanted to talk?” Ryan asked between kisses, when Lindsay had moved down to latch her lips onto his neck. She huffed a laugh against his skin.

“You know, talk,” she punctuated the sentence with a kiss on his jawline next to his ear. “Or make out,” another kiss, further down his neck. “Or, what was it Geoff suggested? I could be the one to ‘bob on your knob’ to help you get over your ex?” she moved to the other side and sucked along his collarbone. 

Ryan moaned, his hands sliding into her hair. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now,” he murmured.

“Okay, no head,” she joked. Her hands pulled up the hem of his shirt, running her hands over his abdomen and around to his back. “What’s your stance on second base?”

She didn’t really give him a chance to answer as she crushed her lips to his once again. Her hands stroked up his back beneath his shirt and circled around to the front once more, feeling the rough hair there and followed it down to his belt. She didn’t make a move to undo it, but Ryan grabbed her hands to still them anyway.

He was panting, his pupils blown wide but he looked almost more panicked than aroused. “Lindsay, I’m not…” he struggled to find the words.

“I know, you and your ex were waiting for marriage,” she said. “We can go slow.” 

“Slow…” Ryan repeated. He sighed, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m not...I mean, it wasn’t just her who was waiting for marriage. I was, too. It was a mutual decision.”

It finally dawned on Lindsay what he was saying. “So, you still want to wait?” she asked, swinging one leg off of Ryan so that she sat next to him rather than on top of him.

“I mean, I’m not sure. Maybe?” he said.

Lindsay paused to think, letting the silence grow between them. “You know I’m not a virgin,” she finally said. Ryan nodded. “I’m not going to apologize for that, it’s not something I am ashamed of.”

“No, I don’t want you to be ashamed,” Ryan comforted her.

“Okay, cause I like sex. It’s important to me,” Lindsay reiterated. “I think I’ve made it pretty damn clear that I’d really like to have sex with you.”

“And I want to have sex with you too!,” Ryan assured her. “I am just not sure when I’ll feel ready.”

“But sometime?,” Lindsay asked, hopeful. “Do you just need some more time?”

“I don’t know, Lindsay. It’s not something I’ve thought about a lot, when I’ll be going down that particular road.”

Lindsay nodded. “Yeah, I get it. I mean, you just broke up with her…”

“It’s not the break up,” Ryan said insistently. “As important as sex is to you, waiting is for me. Can we just...take it off the table?” 

Lindsay’s heart fell. She suddenly felt both slutty and undesirable all at once, so she stood up to beat a quick retreat. 

“Wait, Lindsay, don’t just go!”

“Sorry, Ry,” she said. “I just…” Lindsay couldn’t finish the sentence before tears started to spill out of her eyes. She brushed aside the hand Ryan had placed on her arm in an attempt to comfort or stall her, and nearly ran out of the room. She heard Ryan call her name again, but ignored him in her embarrassed and disappointed flight back to her own room.

*****

Friday evening Lindsay walked off the elevator on the third floor of the library and made a beeline for the back corner, where a number of her friends were already set up in one of the study rooms. 

Lunch on Thursday had been awkward, she hadn’t wanted to meet Ryan’s eyes, and others had noticed their uncharacteristic behaviour with each other. He had rushed after her when she’d left a bit early, tried to talk to her. She’d lied and told him she was fine, that nothing would change between them, and that she had to get to class early to ask a classmate for notes. Then she turned away and escaped up the stairs as quickly as she could without actually running down the hall.

One of the gang usually stopped by mid week to reserve a third floor room for the group, and it served them well. Though few of them shared courses, having a designated homework time with none of the distractions of their rooms had made them better students. Plus, as Ray was fond of pointing out, none of them had anything better to do on Friday nights anyway. 

Ryan was always hit-or-miss for Friday group study sessions, and Lindsay hoped this week was a miss. She’d asked for his help earlier in the week, but that was before _the Incident_ , as she’d been calling it in her head. Hopefully Ryan would realize she needed some space.

It seemed she was in luck, as he was not one of the faces she saw as she entered the study room. She slumped into a chair, throwing her bag onto the table with a thump and pillowing her head in her arms. “Wash, tell me I’m pretty,” she implored, her voice muffled. 

Michael and Gavin all looked confused. “Um, what?” Michael asked. 

Mica rolled her eyes as she came around the table and took the empty chair next to the latest arrival. “Nerds,” she said derisively. To Lindsay, she said, “Were I unwed I would take you in a manly fashion.”

“Cause I’m pretty?”

“Cause you’re pretty,” Mica finished, and hugged Lindsay around her shoulders.

“Thanks,” Lindsay said. The lads looked even more confused, though Kdin and Jeremy had both chuckled. 

“What’s up?” Mica asked. “You’re not usually one to beg for compliments.”

“I dunno,” Lindsay said. “I just feel distinctly unsexy.”

“What the fuck, you know you’re sexy as hell,” Mica comforted her.

“Yeah, but like, I just got completely shot down by...this guy I made a move on, and I mean I made a really blatant move, I was in his fricken lap so its not like guys always say, like he didn’t catch the hint,” she sighed again. “And then today I just lost the lead in the freshman showcase to a blonde with less acting ability but better tits, and got cast as the ‘dumpy aunt’ instead. I’m just feeling rather unfuckable.”

She saw everyone’s eyes were focused on the door behind her, and turned her head to see Ryan looming in the doorway. They said nothing and looked away as soon as their eyes met, and Lindsay wondered how much of her rant he’d heard. So much for getting back to normal. 

Michael cleared his throat and tried to lighten the mood while Ryan walked around the table and took a seat, saying, “Aw, Lindsay, you know I’m always here to fuck you when you feel that way.” 

“Thanks, Michael,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I bet you’ll be the best dumpy aunt they’ve ever seen,” Gavin said, attempting his own brand of comfort. That at least got a chuckle out of Lindsay. She pulled her books out of her bag and opened her math text.

“Kdin, you’re good at everything,” she said, turning to her quiet friend. “Think you can help me with ‘Math for Arts Students’?” Kdin nodded and Lindsay scooted her chair over. She tried not to notice Ryan’s face falling when he heard her ask someone else for help.

*****

“Lindsay, can I ask you a question?” Gavin said out of the blue, in the middle of a good natured round of Super Smash Bros on Sunday evening a couple days later.

Michael and Ray groaned, but Lindsay said, “Sure, Gav.”

“Do girls, like, get horny as much as guys?” 

“Gavin!,” Michael admonished his friend. 

“Wot?,” Gavin squawked. “It’s a perfectly valid question!”

“I mean, I’ve never been a guy, so I can’t do a direct comparison, but yeah, girls get horny,” Lindsay answered, more seriously than any of the boys really expected her to.

Gavin grinned, as he did whenever someone took the bait of one of his inane questions. “But, like, how horny?,” he insisted.

“I dunno, Gav, how do _you_ measure your, I dunno, peak level of horniness?,” she shot back. “Is there a scale somewhere?”

“Sometimes, when there’s someone I fancy around and they’re being cute and all, I think I must be the horniest person in the world,” he philosophized. “But then I think, is it worse when you’re a virgin and haven’t ever had sex, or when you have, and you know what you’re missing?”

“I dunno, man,” Ray chimed in. “Having not had sex for the last 18 years is pretty bad.”

“But, like, you don’t know what it feels like,” Gav said. 

“I’ve got a pretty good imagination,” Ray answered.

"It's just so hard to judge, when girls are turned on or what not," Gavin whined. "With guys it's, well, they've got a bit of a tell, right? But girls keep it all under wraps."

Lindsay laughed. "Oh, we have ways of making ourselves known. Guys are just too dumb to figure them out!"

"Obviously you need to be less subtle," said Michael.

"Oh, I know," Lindsay said ruefully. "I haven't gotten laid since before summer semester started, and not for lack of trying."

“I’ve told you, Linds, you say the word, and I can fix that for you,” Michael said with a grin. Suddenly, Lindsay couldn't control her frustration.

“What would you do if I said ‘the word’, Michael?” she turned on him, accusing. Her heart started sinking through the silence while he hit pause and let his controller dangle from his fingers.

“I mean, it would depend on what word you said,” he said quietly. Ray and Gavin tried very hard to look anywhere other than at the other two people in the room.

Lindsay scoffed. “That’s what I thought, another asshole who can’t put his money where his mouth is.”

“Now hold on a fucking minute,” Michael’s eyes narrowed and he got louder. “Just cause I don’t want to be a convenient dick stand-in cause pretty boy Haywood wouldn’t put out, doesn’t mean I’m an asshole.”

Lindsay’s face got so red it nearly matched her hair as she stood and threw her controller down on the beanbag she had been occupying. “Well _that_ certainly does!” she bit out, and stormed out of the room.

“Shit,” Michael grumbled, and scrambled after her. “Linds, wait!” He followed her out the door, trying to determine which way she’d gone. 

Michael wandered through the darkened residence quarter for a few minutes. He trod the path over to her residence building, and found her in the open area near the top of the staircase, curled in a corner with her head on her knees, her shoulders shaking.

Michael sighed. "Linds, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that," he apologized. 

She looked up when he spoke, her eyes red and tears falling down her face. "Why would you say it then?" she blubbered. 

Michael sat down beside her. "I shouldn't have," he repeated. "I know you're still hurting from...whatever went down between you."

"I know I'm not the hottest girl around, but I'm not that hard up," she said through her sniffles. "If I just wanted random dick I wouldn't go begging one of my best friends."

"That's not what I'm saying!," Michael insisted. "It's just...you know I've had a thing for you since summer semester. And I thought you might feel the same, but you had a boyfriend. And then you came back for the fall and you'd broken up with him and I thought we might have a chance. But then you met Ryan and went all googly-eyed over him.

"And I get it, the guy is hot. I mean, he's Mary fuckin' Poppins, practically perfect in every way, and I'm just this pasty nerd with anger issues, so I just watched the two of you do the same dance that you and _I_ did over the summer. Then something happens and you don’t talk or look at him like you used to and you talk about getting rejected, and suddenly you're talking like you’re wanting to hook up with me, like you were this summer? What am I supposed to think?"

Lindsay leaned against him. “It’s not like that, not with you,” she said. “I mean, you’re not wrong about this summer. It’s not like I broke up with my boyfriend _for_ you, but it was definitely a realization that I couldn’t be with him if I was having feelings for someone else like I did for you.

“And yeah, when I met Ryan I kinda fell for him, and got blinded by that, I guess. But that doesn’t mean what I felt for you this summer is gone. So when you kept acting like sleeping with me was one big joke, especially after feeling like a joke when I...put everything on the table with Ryan, so to speak, I got pissed.”

They sat in silence for a while, not an awkward one, but both waiting for the other to speak, to make a move, to leave, to do _something_. Michael screwed up his courage, reaching over to grab Lindsay’s hand. She laced her fingers through his at the contact.

“We’re a mess,” Michael sighed. 

“ **Yeah** we are,” Lindsay agreed. 

“Wanna be my mess?” he asked quietly.

“ _Yeah_ I do,” she replied, just as softly. “It’s just gonna be real messy.”

*****

Lindsay was worried that others might think, as Michael had, that she was settling for him because Ryan turned her down. She asked Michael if they could stay a secret, just for now, rationalizing that there was enough pressure on a new relationship between friends even without the potentially judging eyes of their larger social circle. Michael wondered if it meant that she didn’t want to rub a new relationship in the face of the dude who had just rejected her, but he kept those thoughts to himself. He was a private person by nature, so it suited him fine.

They agreed to not say anything, but neither would they lie if asked directly. They limited themselves to flirty glances in public, especially around their friends. Trying to keep suspicion down almost easier for Lindsay to ease her way back into her casual flirtation with Ryan, who seemed relieved to return to something closer to their friendly relationship from before.

Michael and Lindsay’s time alone was not easy to arrange. Gavin could never be relied on to be in or out of his and Michael's room, no matter what his class schedule said, so they usually ended up in Lindsay’s room, though only on weekends when Barb went to visit her boyfriend and Thursday mornings when she had an early class did they get to be together. With Lindsay’s schedule filled by classes, exam prep and rehearsal for the showcase, it was lucky they got as much time together as they did.

There were a few close calls. They had to swear Barb to secrecy when she arrived back at their dorm unexpectedly, finding Lindsay and Michael tangled in the sheets together, sleeping in after a long night. Lindsay spent a couple days in turtlenecks with a very dark hickey on her neck. Gavin had also nearly caught them out one Thursday at lunch.

"Where were you this morning, boi?" He asked his roommate when they all sat down with their meals.

"What do you mean, I was at the gym, like I am every Thursday," Michael replied.

"Were not," Gavin said. "I decided I'd join you this morning..." He broke off when everyone else at the table burst out laughing. "What are you all on about? He's always bothering me to join him!"

"Yeah, when I go in the evening, when you're actually _awake_!" Michael said.

"I was feeling particularly virtuous!" defended Gavin. "Also, that girl I met, Meg, may have mentioned that she does a crossfit course on Thursdays."

"Ah hah!" Geoff crowed. "That's much more believable."

"Yeah, but how's she supposed to see me working out with my boi if my boi is nowhere to be found?" Gavin asked, pointedly turning the conversation back to Michael.

"I was there, dude, you just didn't look hard enough," Michael said.

"I looked everywhere!" Gavin insisted. "I had enough time waiting for Meg's class to let out. You weren't in the weight room or on the track or in the pool or using any of the machines!"

"Maybe he was getting a different kind of workout," Barb cut in suggestively. She reached across to pull at the collar of Michael's sweater, revealing a couple of fading hickeys and one fresh one.

"Barb! Goddamnit, leggo," Michael objected, squirming to get as far from the grinning blonde as possible. The others at the table let out a chorus of "oh!"s, Lindsay joining in only half a beat late.

"Seems little Michael is ditching the gym to get some nookie," Geoff said.

"Who's the lucky, uh, other?" Jack asked carefully.

"SHE is none of your business," Michael said.

"So she's hideous, right?" Ray asked.

"No!" Michael insisted.

"Then why haven't we heard all about her?" Gavin questioned. "You're not usually one to keep your gob shut."

"Look, she's special, okay?" Michael was nearly yelling. "I don't want to jinx it!"

"Aww, that's almost sweet," Mica chimed in. 

"I'll say she's special," Geoff commented.

"What, she'd have to be special in the head to put up with me?" Michael retorted.

"Naw," Geoff replied. "I mean, yeah, but it's not every girl who will put up with a dude who never hangs out with her. I mean, you're always with these knobs, or in class or whatever."

"Unless he's the one being kept a secret," Ryan joked.

"Yeah, maybe Michael's the hideous one," Ray allowed. "You're her dirty little Thursday morning secret."

"I guess that means you're doing _something_ right," Jack said, patting Michael on the back.

"Well, Thursday mornings and every other Saturday night," Gavin added. At Michael's angry glance, he added, "Well that's where you are, innit? You think I don't notice your bed's not slept in?"

"I never know with you, Gavvers," Michael replied.

*****

 

_Michael/Ryan hanging out more...gaming, Ryan making all kinds of suggestive comments and saying shit like “I love you” but in the context of the game, so he has plausible deniability. Nothing overt, but it makes Michael think Ryan might not be so straight. Ryan asking about Michael’s open bisexuality._

_*****_

As Gavin had predicted weeks before, Lindsay’s “dumpy aunt” character completely stole the show during the freshman showcase. Lindsay got the biggest laughs for her snide comments while the female lead whined about her problems, and she got a deafening cheer along with the first standing ovation on curtain call.

Still in costume, she rushed out the stage door to the lobby as soon as her mic pack was off. She fought through the crowd to find her friends, who had all come to support her. She got hugs from all of them, even Geoff, who had stayed an extra day past the conclusion of his TA duties in order to see the performance.

“Where’s Michael?” she asked, looking around for the familiar head of curly hair.

“He’s around somewhere,” Jack said. “He wandered off when we got out here.” Lindsay was scanning the crowd for her not-boyfriend-but-definitely-more-than-friends-with-benefits when one of her fellow performers came up to congratulate her. She made introductions and her friends were trying to make small talk when Michael approached the group, one hand awkwardly held behind his back.

"Michael!," Lindsay greeted, pulling him close to give him a hug. "I was worried you hadn't come and they were covering for you."

"Sorry, they put these in water for me in the ticket booth but no one was there after the show so I had to go find someone with keys...," as he babbled he pulled a large bouquet of roses out from behind him and thrust them toward her. 

Lindsay looked down at the flowers and back up at Michael's face. "You brought me flowers," she stated.

Michael shifted his weight. "Well, yeah. That's what you do when someone's in a play, right?," he said, slightly nervous, worried he'd somehow broken some kind of unwritten rule.

Lindsay felt her heart swell, watching his nervous but eager face. She reached up a hand, but rather than taking the proffered bouquet, she pulled his face close to hers and kissed him softly. She could feel his lips spread into a smile against hers, and he wrapped his arms around her, partially crushing the flowers against her back as he returned her kiss with gusto.

"Finally," Barb muttered.

"About time you two stopped pretending," Geoff agreed. 

That broke the couple apart, Lindsay whirling around on her roommate. "You told!," she accused.

Barb held up three fingers. "Scout's honour, the only person I told was Aaron," she defended.

Gavin’s jaw dropped. “Wot?!” he screeched. “What do you mean, Micool? What about your cheeky lady love?” His eyes went wide as realization dawned. “ _Lindsay’s_ your cheeky lady love?”

“You guys aren’t exactly subtle,” Jack commented. “You’ve been eye-fucking across the lunch table for weeks.”

“And here we thought we’d been sneaky,” Lindsay said, while Michael kept one arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him. He couldn't stop grinning, both with pride for Lindsay's performance and with relief that they were “out”. Lindsay took her eyes off him for a brief moment to look at Ryan, their eyes met for a moment, before Ryan turned and stepped away from the group.

*****

_post-xmas Ryan-Michael convo - R’s sexuality_

*****

_Ryan telling Lindsay_

*****

_Decision to try and be a trio (May be same scene as above)_

*****

_First three-some - Figuring stuff out_

…

Michael and Lindsay looked over at Ryan in unison. "C'mere," Lindsay implored him.

"I just...I just don't know what to do," he confessed, even as he drew closer. "Where do I fit? Do we take turns?"

"Any way you want, babe," Lindsay offered. When Ryan still looked confused and deflated, Lindsay had an idea.

"Ry, d'you want to try, like, someone else being in charge? Like, Michael or I can make all the decisions and tell you what to do and all that?" she suggested.

Ryan thought quietly for a few seconds, relief flooding through him. Having that responsibility, that decision making taken away so that he could concentrate on all the swirling feelings going through him at this new experience...that sounded like just what he needed. He told the others exactly that. Michael tried not to look _too_ excited.

"Okay, we'll set some ground rules," Lindsay started. "First time, so nothing crazy, no toys or anything. Either of you have any hard limits within that? Ryan, I know you said you didn't want to go all the way tonight."

Ryan flushed red. "I mean, nothing..." He gestured to his crotch. "Nothing in my underpants touching other underpants zones, but, uh, other stuff is fine, I guess?"

"So, no genital sex, but manual and oral is cool?" Michael clarified.

Ryan nodded. "It all sounds so clinical when you say it that way."

"Believe me," Lindsay chimed in. "It's about to _feel_ a whole lot less clinical. But this part is necessary, so everyone has a good time." Looking at Michael, she added, “Usual limits for you, I guess?” Michael nodded.

"Okay, stoplight safe words good with you guys?" Lindsay asked. At Ryan's confused look, she added, "If you don't like what's going on and want to stop, say red. If you're unsure, or you want to take a break, say yellow. If all’s good, say green."

“Easy enough,” Ryan acknowledges. 

“Is there anywhere you want to start?” Michael offered.

“I thought Lindsay supposed to be in charge!” Ryan said.

“What if we start where we left off that first night?” Lindsay suggested, her voice steady to help keep nerves down. “When we were making out on the couch.”

Ryan swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing. “Yeah, that’s good.” Lindsay gestured to her bed, and Ryan climbed into it, sitting at the head, with his back against the wall. Lindsay smiled and joined him, straddling his hips again, as she had months before. She leaned into him, pressing her lips to his, softly encouraging his mouth open. Ryan wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as his tongue teased her lips, slipping between them to taste her mouth.

“How about you guys take your shirts off?” Michael asked. At Ryan's half surprised glance, he added, "Hey, if I'm gonna play spectator for a bit, I wouldn’t mind some eye candy." 

Ryan chuckled, and leaned forward to pull his tee shirt off. Only when he had pulled it off completely did he behold the awe inspiring sight of the woman in his lap having done the same. "Wow," he murmured, trying to look into her eyes but failing, his gaze captivated by the sight of Lindsay's breasts in a sheer lace bra. "You're so beautiful," he told her reverently. Lindsay's blush spread down across her chest.

“Why don’t you touch her, Ry?” Michael said. “She wants you to touch her, I can tell.”

Ryan still waited for Lindsay’s subtle nod before trailing his hand up her side until he reached her bra, then coming around to the front to cup her gently. When Lindsay closed her eyes and groaned, Ryan felt it all the way down to his very centre. He used his other hand to pull her back against him, kissing her with renewed fervour. 

Michael made a sound and climbed onto the bed to join them, and Ryan saw him palm the front of his jeans before he settled in near Ryan’s knees. Lindsay felt the bed shift and peeled her lips off Ryan’s to look at Michael, and Ryan laid his mouth onto her neck. 

“Babe, can you unsnap me?” Lindsay asked, and Michael grinned, leaning forward to do as asked. Lindsay finished removing her bra, Ryan became mesmerized by her dusky pink nipples standing out against her pale skin. Before she had even lowered her arms, Ryan had leaned forward and taken one between his lips.

...

Ryan's head fell back as he completely lost himself in the feeling of Lindsay's lips, tongue, mouth around his aching cock. She licked and sucked, teasing the head and then swallowing down as much of his length as she could. He had never known how amazing the sensation of hitting the back of a throat was, or how he could feel the press of a tongue on his sensitive skin all through his body.

A hand pulled his head forward, and he opened his eyes to see Michael had pressed himself next to him on the bed. "You still with us?," he asked.

"Yeah," Ryan said with what he knew was a dopey smile. Michael grinned in response, leaning forward to capture Ryan's lips with his own. Ryan hummed into the kiss, one hand reaching up to cup Michael's cheek while the other remained stroking Lindsay's head. He felt her moan around him when she heard the telltale sounds of the kiss, and he nearly bucked up into her mouth.

One of Michael's hands was still on Lindsay's back, and he pulled away from Ryan's kiss swollen lips as the hand stroked down toward her ass. He had a wicked gleam in his eye when he met Ryan's gaze, his hand dipping into Lindsay's panties and down between her legs.

"You should feel how wet she is, Ry," Michael said. Lindsay rocked back, and Ryan realized Michael had his fingers inside of her. 

Encouraged by Lindsay’s reaction, Michael shifted back to pull her panties down over her ass and leave them tangled around where her knees her pressed into the mattress.

**Author's Note:**

> These fics are up for grabs in a way. If any of them inspire in you the passion to finish them, please do so with my blessing!


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